Professori Lea Piltti | |
|---|---|
 Lea Piltti in 1943 | |
| Born | Lea Maire Piltti (1904-02-01)1 February 1904 |
| Died | 5 February 1982(1982-02-05) (aged 78) |
| Awards | Pro Finlandia (1956) |
Lea Piltti (1 February 1904 – 5 February 1982) was aFinnish opera singer and voice pedagog, one of the leadingcoloraturasopranos of the 1930s and 40s, and one of Finland's most successful singers on the international stage.[1][2][3]
Lea Piltti was born to Juho Piltti and Elsa Marianée Korhonen; both her parents were teachers.[4] Her father was a keen singer, and singing helped form a strong connection between him and his daughter.[5]
After completing her secondary education, she went to theJyväskylä teacher training college to train also as a teacher; she completed her training, but never worked as a teacher, choosing instead a musical career.[3] Alongside her studies she took singing lessons from the age of 16, most notably underAnna Hagelstam at the Helsinki Music Institute (laterSibelius Academy, now part of theUniversity of the Arts Helsinki).[4]
She later continued her training on numerous study trips mainly to Paris, where she was tutored byGabrielle Ritter-Ciampi, and to Berlin, working with Olga Eisner and Hertha Dehmlow throughout the late 1920s.[4][3]
Piltti made her operatic debut at the Finnish Opera (now theFinnish National Opera and Ballet) in Helsinki, in the title role ofLakmé, in September 1927.[1] She returned there a few more times in the 1940s and 1950s.[6]
For much of her active singing career, however, Piltti worked in Germany, where she was nicknamedDie Piltti.[5] She was attached to opera houses in Königsberg, Danzig, and Darmstadt, followed by several years as the first coloratura soprano at theDeutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (1934–1938) and finally atVienna State Opera (1938–1943), before returning to Finland.[4] She also made many guest appearances in opera houses and concerts in Berlin, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Budapest, and Salzburg, among others, as well as in the USA.[4]
Her signature piece was theQueen of the Night aria from Mozart'sMagic Flute'. In 1936, during a guest appearance at theBerlin State Opera to sing this role, she sang the aria in a much faster tempo than the conductorLeo Blech would have wanted, and Blech at first stopped conducting in protest at the singer's insolence, but by the time the piece was finished, he along with the audience was shouting out for anencore.[5]
In 1939,Richard Strauss personally invited Piltti to sing the challenging Zerbinetta aria fromAriadne auf Naxos at his 75th anniversary concert.[3]
Piltti recorded extensively, mostly collections of arias, but also at least one complete opera recording, namely Mozart'sDie Entführung aus dem Serail (1936).[3] She also had a singing role in the German 1942 filmWiener Blut (Vienna Blood), directed by Willi Forst.[7]
Upon her return to Finland in 1943, Piltti initially received a cool reception due to her association with Nazi Germany, and it took many years for her talents to be appreciated again in her native country.[1][5]
Her singing career was effectively over, but later on, Piltti taught voice for over 20 years, in music institutes andconservatoires inLahti, Jyväskylä, andTurku, as well as privately.[4][3] Some of her more notable students included sopranoAnita Välkki, bassMatti Salminen, and tenorSeppo Ruohonen.[5]
During her career, Piltti performed inc. 50 roles, as well as over 2,000 concerts.[3]
She retired in 1961.[3]
In 1956, Piltti received thePro Finlandia [fi] medal of theOrder of the Lion of Finland.[8]
In 1974, the honorary title ofProfessori was conferred on Piltti.[4][2]
TheFinnish Cultural Foundation occasionally awards the Lea Piltti Prize, based on Piltti's 1979 endowment, to distinguished opera singers; recipients includeKim Borg, Anita Välkki,Jorma Hynninen and Matti Salminen.[9]
Piltti was an extremely shy and reserved person.[5]
She was married twice. During her time in Germany she was married to a German man, as well as taking German citizenship. The marriage ended in 1943, and Piltti returned to Finland, where, in 1946, she married Olavi Killinen.[4]
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